Jobs blow as C&G wields axe

Aug 8 2007 By Will Oliphant, Birmingham Mail

JOB losses will hit hard in the West Midlands after Cheltenham & Gloucester announced it would close four of its branches in the region.

Altogether 315 staff will lose their jobs nationally, with about 40 of those from closures in Harborne, Bloxwich, Cradley Heath and Dudley.

The closures make up about six per cent of the 196 branches around the country but parent company Lloyds TSB has said it is committed to its remaining branches.

Managing director Jon Pain said: "Closing branches is never a decision that we take lightly but, with more customers taking advantage of technology, the number of customers coming through the doors in these particular branches has fallen.

"By closing these branches where customer use has dropped we can invest in the branches that customers do not use."

But Steve Tatlow, assistant general secretary of the Lloyds TSB Group Union, said he feared the announcements will be the first wave of a cost-cutting move.

And John Bancroft, national officer of the Unite union, said: "We are very disappointed at the decision to close 31 branches across the country."